


Hello Hello

by ravenditefairylights



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Everyone Is Alive, First Dates, Fluff, Luthien is a great big sister, M/M, Turin is awkward, who helps Turin actually talk to his crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 00:59:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15108446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenditefairylights/pseuds/ravenditefairylights
Summary: “Have a Gatorade.” Luthien shoved a bottle of soda in his hands. “Rehydrate yourself. And have a seat, because we need to talk about this boy.”There was nothing Turin could do but comply.“He’s too pretty.” He sighed, sipping the drink in his hands....Turin decides to start training to hold his own in a fight, but his instructor is very pretty and Turin may or may not have a crush on him





	Hello Hello

**Author's Note:**

  * For [legitopal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/legitopal/gifts).



> This is dedicated to [legitopal](http://legitopal.tumblr.com/html/) since it was mostly her idea. Many thanks to [kanafiinwe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kanafiinwe/html/) and [Midnight Queen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midnight_Queen/html/) for contributing!
> 
> Special thanks to [the bird queen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_bird_queen/pseuds/the_bird_queen/htm/) for beta reading this.

_ “Hello, hello! _

_ Hello, hello! _

_ my my my _

_ what have we here _

_ what a surprise, _

_ what a surprise! _

_ Hello, hello! _

_ Hello, hello! _

_ I’m not alone,  _

_ It’s good to know _

_ someone’s out there to say _

_ hello, hello!” _

_ -Hello, hello; Elton John _

  
  


The flyer said that the first class was free of charge.

Turin stared up at the neon sign that wrote ‘Martial Arts’; only the letter  _ m _ and  _ s  _ had burned out, so it looked more like ‘Artial Art’. The building itself looked like there weren’t many things holding it together, and there were more places on the wall that were peeled off than there were concrete; with background a hideous combination of painfully bright yellow and sick green. 

Well, there was no turning back now.

He pushed the large wooden door open (it was a mix of deep brown with golden streaks seemingly painted there afterwards) and it creaked, making Turin wince; the sound was horrible enough to make his ears bleed. Metaphorically, of course.

The only person inside the building was a boy, around Turin’s age; his hair were a bleached blond colour, tied up in a ponytail and he looked painfully bored. His eyes (which had a colour as brown as the wooden door he just pushed open), however, lit up as soon as Turin set foot inside.

“Hello!” His voice was cheery, making up for the lack of a welcoming bell that their door didn’t have; and his smile could make the place look welcoming. Or not so much like a dump; even if it still was one.  “I’m Mablung! Mablung Fortarc.” He jumped over the counter he was sitting behind and offered him a hand. Turin shook it hesitantly.

“Turin Forêtroi.” He said.

“Are you here for the martial arts class?” Mablung asked hopefully.

Turin looked back at the door, recalling what the sign said. “Um, is there anything else you can do here?” He asked, suddenly self-conscious. It wouldn’t be the first time he had walked into the wrong building. 

“Not really, no.” He smiled. “Don’t worry, you’re in the right place. Go down this corridor,” he pointed at a corridor at their right, “the changing room is the first door on the left, and the training room is the only other door inside the lockers.” Turin nodded his thanks and started walking away. “THANKS FOR JOINING THE FORTARC’S MARTIAL ARTS CENTRE!” Mablung yelled as Turin was walking away.

The latter wasn’t sure if he should acknowledge the comment somehow, but he had already took too much time to answer, and he didn’t want to look stupid, so he carefully picked the right door and went through; still feeling somewhat bad that he had ignored Mablung. Maybe he expected him to say something back; surely, he wouldn’t hate him for that?

His anxiety was interrupted by the smell. It was a.. rather  _ interesting _ smell, Turin decided. It smelled as if someone had dumped a field of daisies in there, in an attempt to cover the smell of feet and sweat. It didn’t work. That distinctive smell was still there; and frankly it was a little nauseating.

He dumped his bag on one of the benches, quickly dressed into sports clothes and left through the door- Mablung was right, it wasn’t hard to find it. Once he crossed to the other side, he allowed himself a huge breath for the ones he lost inside; holding his breath for as long as he could in order to smell as little of the smell as possible.

“Well, hello there!” A cheery voice brought Turin back to the present. His eyes snapped open -he didn’t remember closing them-, and landed on his instructor. Turin had to take a conscious effort not to gape at the man in front of him.

He was around nineteen, with the same bleached blond hair as Mablung, but his eyes were a captivating hazel colour that were much more green than brown. It was like a hurricane of colours; a forest inside two irises. He was dressed in a pair of sports clothes that  _ definitely _ did him justice, and was giving Turin a dazzling smile as bright as the sun.

And Turin did what he always did when he got flustered; he pushed his glasses up his nose and lost his ability to speak properly.

He opened his mouth to repeat the greeting, but no sound came out, and he closed it again, looking like a fish out of water; a concerningly red fish whose brain shut down for a moment.

“I’m Beleg, Beleg Fortarc; and you are-?” The smile was still there, no less distracting, and Turin still couldn’t speak; the man’s eyes were better to look at. His brain had gone out of the window, but he did register that it was a question directed to him; but he couldn’t answer it. “There’s no need to be nervous!” Beleg said, translating his speechlessness as nervousness (and under different circumstances he would have been right).

“Tu- Turin.” He finally managed to spit out once his jaw started working again. “Turin Forêtroi.”

Beleg’s smile widened; which shouldn’t even be physically possible, his cheeks must have been in grave pain. “Pleased to meet you, Turin, I’m your instructor.” He said. Turin could only nod. “Why did you come here?”

“There was a flyer.” Turin said, shrugging self-consciously. Beleg laughed; his laugh was as beautiful as he was, clear and happy, like a waterfall making it’s descend from a cliff and landing with force on the wet rocks below.

“Of course.” He said. “But I mean, why did you decide to come here?”

“Biting people is not considered a proper way of getting into fights.” Turin answered simply, aware of the astonished look he received from Beleg; however, the blond man was quick to recover.

“Let’s teach you how to hold your ground in a fight then, shall we?”

Turin had been worried about the training being awkward, since Turin didn’t talk much -especially to strangers- but it appeared that Beleg had no such quarrels. He was content talking all by himself, and Turin was content to just listen to him; how much he genuinely enjoyed talking and how pleasant he was. And apparently he had no trouble telling everything to a complete stranger.

“We inherited the place when my father died last year, and my mom wanted to get rid of it, but Mab and I -that’s Mablung, my brother, I assume you’ve met him already- decided to give it a go, and opened up again. It needs a great deal of redecoration though…” 

The two hours flew by, and as Beleg taught Turin how to punch properly and how to hold his own in a fight, Turin found himself getting flustered every time Beleg touched him to show him where his hands should go, or to move him a little to the right. At some point Turin muttered something about needing to use the bathroom, and made a quick exit.

The bathroom was surprisingly clean. Almost spotless, one would say, but Turin didn’t care; he was not going to use it either way. He pulled his phone out and called  Luthien; his sister would know what to do.

_ “What’s up?” _ His sister’s voice rang through the device; casual and pleasant, as if Turin wasn’t having an internal breakdown.

“How do you like, be a guy?” He asked.

_ “Pardon me?”  _ Luthien said, confusion evident in her tone.  _ “Turin, are you okay?” _

“No.” He answered truthfully. “There’s a guy here and he’s too beautiful; I think my brain ran away.”

_ “How pretty are we talking about?” _ His sister asked with that voice that meant she was already laying out a plan in her head.

“Too pretty.” Turin answered, rather unhelpfully.

_ “I want a picture.” _ Luthien said after a moment of silence.

“How am I supposed to  _ do  _ that?” Turin demanded; horrified at the idea.

_ “I don’t know, you’ll find a way. Be sneaky; don’t look like a creep.” _ And with that, Luthien hung up the phone. Turin sighed; so much for helping him.

He came out of the bathroom, where Beleg was waiting for him, seated on the floor. His face lit up when he saw him, and he stood.

“It’s been two and a half hours, what do you say we continue this another time?” He asked, and Turin had to force himself to avoid his gaze so that he wouldn’t be reduced to a stuttering mess.

“Yeah, sure.” Turin said with a half-shrug. 

“Tomorrow sounds good?” Beleg said, and Turin nodded, still not looking him in the eye. He had focused on his nose instead, but it was not any less distracting; it had an adorable slight curve at the end. “Great! Same time, then? I look forward to it!”

He flashed Turin a bright smile, and Turin smiled weakly back. The pair of them made their way back to the changing room, where Turin quickly discarded his sweaty clothes and put on clean one. He was at the process of pulling his hair over his head, when he noticed Beleg in front of him; doing the same.  _ Shirtless. _

It took significant effort not drool. To say that Beleg had muscles would be the understatement of the century; his abs looked as if they had been carved into him, they were that defined. A small part at the back of his brain remembered that Luthien had asked for a picture, and with movements almost mechanic, Turin fished his phone out of his pocket; but try as he might, he didn’t see how he could discreetly take a photo of the other boy.

Finally he gave up, and approached Beleg with the phone in hand; while the other boy was rummaging through his bag, searching for something.

“Hey, ummm… would you mind taking a picture with me, for my sister? To prove I went.” Turin was genuinely impressed at himself for coming up with that, but he tried to look confident instead; he was not sure how successfully he managed it. Beleg had no objections, and so Turin took a selfie with him (Beleg had conveniently neglected to put a shirt on). The blond was wearing that stunningly bright smile that at this point seemed like a personality trait by itself.

They finished dressing in silence, and exited the changing room together; Turin holding the strap of his bag self-consciously while Beleg talked.

“Tomorrow same time, then?” He asked before leaving, to make sure he’d gotten it right.

Beleg smiled at him again (making it look like he had actually stopped smiling at some point, even though Turin was certain he hadn’t). “I’ll be looking forward to it.” He said, and Turin nodded once and left, completely missing the look Mablung gave him before he left.

Those butterflies should  _ not _ be in his stomach, dammit.

* * *

Luthien must have been waiting for him at the door, because she opened it before he had even climbed up the stairs.

“SO?” She demanded immediately, dragging him inside with a force no one would have thought possible for the girl with the shy smiles and pastel colours, but Turin knew his sister had taken years of martial arts herself.

“I got a pic.” Turin said, and she squealed, and dragged him to her room. 

It was a huge room, fit for the mansion they lived in, and Luthien had decorated every inch of it with colourful butterflies, flowers, and dresses she had sewed herself. The walls around them had a soft lilac colour; Luthien had never liked vibrant colours on the walls. She pushed forward a whiteboard Turin had never seen before out of nowhere (it was not impossible that she had just bought it specifically for this -there was a suspicious sticker with the words ‘help Turin get laid’ on it-).

“Have a Gatorade.” Luthien shoved a bottle of soda in his hands. “Rehydrate yourself. And have a  _ seat, _ because we need to talk about this boy.”

There was nothing Turin could do but comply.

“He’s too pretty.” He sighed, sipping the drink in his hands.

Luthien reached an arm out. “Pic.” Turin wordlessly handed her his phone. “Oh my god.” She breathed. “He’s not  _ pretty _ , Turin, he’s  _ hot.” _ But she didn’t give him a chance to reply as she continued. “Is he nice? What’s his character like? Did he flirt with you at all?”

Turin sighed again. “Luthy, he’s just  _ perfect.” _ He said, ignoring all of her questions.

Luthien rolled her eyes. “Turin, you’re my brother and I love you, but you’re a disaster. We’ve got work to do. But you’ve got this.”

Turin smiled weakly and tried to believe her.

“I’m going back tomorrow.” He said.

“Excellent!” Luthien clapped her hands together. “Now, see, this is what we’re going to do..” and with that she started writing out something akin to a game plan on the large whiteboard in front of them.

“What do you  _ mean _ , I actually have to talk to him?” Turin demanded once his sister finished writing out her plan. “What do I  _ say?” _

“Just be yourself.” Luthien advised simply.

“That’s terrible advice!” he exclaimed, causing the black-haired girl to roll her eyes at him.

“You’re going to do great, little brother, just relax.” Luthien told him, and that was all the goodnight he got before being unceremoniously kicked out of her bedroom.

* * *

 

He had spent almost the entire night worrying about what he was going to do today at practice, that he completely disregarded to think  _ how _ he would train while sleep-deprived. He just hoped that Beleg wouldn’t notice it, but as it turned out, Beleg  _ definitely  _ noticed; but he didn’t say anything, just went a little easier on him. 

He didn’t say anything, at least not until they were in the changing room.

“Are you alright?” Beleg asked, not without concern. “You seemed a little out of it today.”

“Tired.” Turin shrugged. “I didn’t sleep all that great.”

“Do you know what would fix that?” Beleg asked suddenly. “A good cup of coffee. I know a great coffee shop down the street, what do you say we drop by?”

It took Turin a moment to registered that Beleg was asking him to get a cup of coffee together, at which point he had to swallow hard against the lump of anxiety in his throat; half of his brain was screaming to say yes, and the other half was running around in terrified circles.

“I’d love that.” Turin said instead, plastering a wide smile on his face. He expected that he would need to force it, but it came with surprising ease.

“Great! Let me go tell Mablung not to wait up.” He said, and ducked outside. Turin, who would have otherwise taken the time to properly freak out, called Luthien instead.

“He asked me to get coffee together!” He practically yelled inside the phone, before Luthien could even breathe.

_ “THAT’S WONDERFUL!” _ His sister screamed, and Turin had to hold the phone away from his ear in order for it to survive her excited squealing.  _ “You said yes, right?” _ Luthien asked, sounding slightly suspicious.

“Of course!” Turin exclaimed.

_“Thank_ _Eru.”_ His sister breathed in relief. Turin felt a little offended at the amount of faith she had into him, but then again Turin _had_ considered saying no (for about three seconds) but he got over it.

“Okay, but what do I do?” Turin asked, getting slightly worried.

_ “Be yourself.” _ Luthien repeated the advice she had given him yesterday.

“How?” Turin asked helplessly. he would much prefer she had given him some sort of paper with instructions of ‘how not to mess up a date’ on it. No such luck; Turin never had any luck. Except this time, it seemed, because Beleg asking him out felt almost surreal.

_ “Only you know how.” _ Luthien responded curtly.

“I don’t- Luthy-” She had hung up on him. Turin was about to curse rather colourfully, when Beleg poked his head through the door.

“What are you doing?” He asked, as Turin stared at him with the phone in his hand.

“Just telling my sister I’ll be kinda late.” He responded, impressed at how even his voice was.

“Neat. You coming?” Beleg smiled again, and Turin followed him out. It was kind of cheesy, but Turin couldn’t help thinking that he would follow Beleg anywhere.

The coffee shop, as it turned out, was exactly a block away, and it was a rather pretty place. It was small, but cozy; with flowers at the corners and colourful signs stating the food and prices hanging on the walls. Beleg and Turin picked a table at the front, and they both ordered coffee; Beleg a latte, and Turin the bitter black coffee as he usually had.

“Dedicated to the aesthetic?” Beleg asked jokingly.

“Umm..” Turin frowned, not sure what the blond meant.

“It’s just, you’re goth, right? I don’t know, bitter black coffee fits.” Beleg explained with a shrug.

“Black just like my soul?” Turin grinned and Beleg laughed; the sound giving some satisfaction from Turin from causing it. “I just, like it better without sugar. My sister thinks it’s really weird; she dumps at three small packs of sugar in hers.”

“I think it’s fitting.” Beleg said, and the two of them lapsed into silence. Turin was aware of it settling, and he knew he should break it, but he didn’t know what to say, so naturally he internally fretted over it. He let his eyes travelled around the cafe and settle anywhere but Beleg, trying desperately not to look too awkward.

He was grateful when the coffees arrived a few minutes later, but even that wasn’t enough to lift the silence, that seemed to be getting more uncomfortable by the minute. Turin was too busy being anxious to touch the coffee that sat in front of him.

“Turin?” Beleg asked, and Turin jumped despite himself. “Are you okay? You look a little… tense.” He finished.

“I’m fine.” Turin lied, but it was ruined by a sigh that practically radiated anxiety. “It’s just- I’ve never been on a date before.” He admitted in a small voice, giving Beleg a nervous smile.

“It can be a date if you want it to be.” Beleg smiled. Turin mentally slapped himself  _ stupid, stupid, you thought it was a date you  _ idiot- but Beleg’s smile seemed so bright, and it gave Turin a little bit of confidence.

“I… would like it to be a date.” He confessed nervously. Beleg laughed, and for a horrible moment Turin thought he was laughing at him; but Beleg’s laugh was so nice to be used for something so mean-

“You’re so cute.” He said instead, and Turin felt his cheeks burn. He reached over with his hand, and straightened Turin’s glasses on his nose. “Much better. Your eyes are more visible like this.” 

“Your eyes are pretty.” Turin blurted without thinking, and immediately regretted it; his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Beleg blushed, but he smiled again. 

“Thanks.”

God, Turin could stare at that smile forever. He suddenly remembered that he had a coffee, and took a sip, enjoying the bitter taste on his tongue despite how slightly uncomfortable hot it was.

“Tell me about yourself?” He suggested, recalling something Luthien had said about how this was always an acceptable question, back when she was fighting with dad because he wouldn’t let her go overseas to meet her online boyfriend. They were still fighting, actually, but Turin had a feeling it wouldn’t be long until Luthien won the argument.

“There aren’t many things about me you don’t know, I told you pretty much everything during training yesterday.” Beleg said, twirling his cup between his fingers. It was true, but Turin wouldn’t mind hearing all of it again, especially since he really didn’t know what else to say. “I don’t know anything about you though, besides that you’re absolutely stunning, of course.” He continued.

Turin blushed bright red again, but he couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him. “Thank you.”

“You should smile more. It lights up your whole face, and it really brings out your eyes; that are very pretty and the way.” Turin blushed a deeper red, if possible, but he smiled back at Beleg, somewhat tentatively, and started talking. Beleg listened to him intently, nodding at the right places and seeming genuinely interested in what Turin had to say; smiling at him the whole time.

Beleg’s smile was bright enough to be the only thing you noticed about him when he smiled, but now that Turin was sitting close to him, he could see the dimples that were only at the right corner of his lips, and they way the light seemed to dance inside his hazel eyes with an excited twinkle.

Oh yes, Turin could stare at his smile forever, and he wouldn’t mind it at all.


End file.
